Texas State Representative Matt Rinaldi (R-Irving) claimed to have been threatened by a fellow lawmaker and assaulted by another during a Memorial Day closing session. Others claim it was Rinaldi that made death threats against Democrat legislators.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the State’s sanctuary city bill into law Sunday night during a Facebook Live event from his office. The new law is now the toughest anti-sanctuary city law in the United States and provides for criminal and civil penalties for police chiefs and sheriffs that refuse to honor immigration detainers.

The Texas Legislature passed the toughest anti-sanctuary city bill in the nation Wednesday evening. The bill creates a criminal penalty for sheriffs and police chiefs that refuse to honor ICE detainers. The Senate passed the bill on a 20-11 party-line vote.

The police chiefs in six of Texas’ largest cities responded to the anti-sanctuary city bill passed by the Texas House on Thursday by signing a letter of opposition and releasing it to the press on Friday. The chiefs said the issue is one for the federal government and representatives are “pandering.”

The Texas Legislature is on the final step to passing a bill that will penalize jurisdictions, including college campus police departments, which have sanctuary policies protecting illegal immigrants. The bill puts sharp teeth in the battle to stop such policies.

A new feature of the Trump Administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is a weekly Declined Detainer Outcome Report. The first edition reveals 206 criminal aliens released from jails in sanctuary jurisdictions. Texas takes the number one slot with more than 70 percent of cases.

Texas’ capital county faces the loss of millions of dollars in state funding as a result of the Travis County sheriff’s sanctuary policies when a new bill that outlaws the same passes the legislature. Texas Governor Greg Abbott made abolishing sanctuary jurisdictions in Texas an emergency item for this year’s legislative session.

The bill passed by the Texas Senate this week calls for the creation of criminal penalties for state, county, or local officials who chose to ignore federal immigration law. The bill also creates a provision whereby the official could be removed from office if they fail to enforce the law.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott moved quickly against the Travis County Sheriff who announced late last week that she would be changing her department’s policy on cooperating with federal immigration officials.

A hallway mural of the Ten Commandments and a painted Bible verse came under fire by Wisconsin atheist group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which sent a letter demanding a west Texas school district cover it or risk a lawsuit.

The Texas Senate Select Committee on Property Tax Reform and Relief was in Houston on Tuesday taking testimony from Texans affected by the strain of rising property taxes and the burdensome appraisal process.

The Texas Senate Health and Human Services committee began their investigation on aborted baby body part sales and questioned witnesses at the state Capitol for over four hours on Wednesday. The committee met to examine the business practices and regulatory structure of Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas, and to investigate whether state or federal laws were broken with regard to the donation and/or sale of fetal tissue.

The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 5-4 decision on Friday, declared that same-sex marriage is a fundamental right. Almost immediately, various count clerks’ offices around Texas began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Texas elected officials quickly responded to the high court’s decision.

After years of odd, troubling, and threatening behavior by an Oklahoma stripper, she claimed that a Texas State Senator was stalking her, even though he had not been in Oklahoma during the relevant period. On Tuesday, the judge assigned to the case dismissed her request for a protective order, but that happened after several days of media speculation by a press all-too-willing to believe salacious accusations against a conservative Republican.

The Texas Senate passed a bill on Tuesday which would protect the rights of certain religious organizations and pastors to refuse participation in marriage ceremonies which violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Governor said he will sign a bill that offers such protection to pastors and ministers.

The Texas State Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would give Texas law enforcement officers jurisdiction to enforce federal laws intended to – in the words of the bill’s author – “stop illegal alien criminals at the border.”

Two Texas Legislators have been named to GOPAC’s 2015 Class of Emerging Leaders. One state senator and one state representative. Being a freshman senator from the largest state senate district in the United States is tough work, but that is already being recognized by GOPAC, a conservative think-tank, as they named Texas State Senator Charles Perry to the 2015 Class of Emerging Leaders. State Representative Craig Goldman (R-Fort Worth) was also named to the list.

The Texas Senate has passed a package of bills that include substantial reforms to the state’s franchise tax, a tax on a business’ gross margins. Conservatives are cheering the news, and turning a hopeful eye toward the House, where the fate of these reforms now rests.

Texas State House Representative Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) is going forward with a Religious Freedoms measure apparently abandoned by Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas). Krause’s bill proposes a constitutional amendment which would bar counties, cities, and homeowners associations from interfering “in any way a person’s free exercise of religion.” The amendment is intended to address ordinances passed in Houston, San Antonio, and Plano that target business owners who exercise their religious beliefs about sexual orientation.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick opened a press conference on education by saying that nearly 150,000 students were trapped in over two hundred schools that were failing their students and parents. His remarks came at the beginning of a conference that featured members of the Senate Education Committees and other Texas State Senators with education bills.

Texas State Senator Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) announced this week that he had filed several bills for consideration during this legislative session that were in response to feedback he had received from constituents in his district, a mostly rural area containing Lubbock and San Angelo. The new bills are the latest among the ones that Perry has filed to address specific needs of his district.

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R) has referred two bills expanding the open carry of guns to committee, a crucial step needed before the legislation can reach the floor for debate and a vote. The move was announced Monday afternoon, a week after Patrick had made comments in an interview casting doubt about whether there was sufficient support for a bill allowing the open carry of handguns this session.

On Wednesday, the Texas Senate voted on mostly partisan lines to throw out a nearly 70 year old rule that made it easier for Democrats to block bills in the Republican controlled chamber. Under the “Two-Thirds Rule,” bills could not be brought up for debate without the votes of two-thirds of the Senators, or 21 out of the 31 Senators. Republicans currently have a 20 to 11 majority, leaving them still needing the vote of at least one Democrat to advance legislation.

As we close out 2014, our first year of publishing at Breitbart Texas, we have a lot of reasons to be thankful. We thought it would be fun to collect a few New Year’s Resolutions from across the state and share them with our readers.